Joe Galvin completes his Bulldog Bursary as Daniel Shadbolt takes over the apprenticeship.

The Bulldog Bursary is a national bursary created to promote professional and artistic development within the field of painted portraiture. It comprises £5,000, studio space and most importantly, the opportunity to work alongside the members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP).

Apprenticeship has a long history – Michaelangelo was apprenticed to Ghirlandaio; Ingres and Gericault learned from Jacques-Louis David and Joshua Reynolds studied with Thomas Hudson. Today, however, the opportunities to learn through working alongside peers are very limited so the Bulldog Bursary offers a rare privilege

Joe Galvin, last year’s winner, says it was “a fantastic insight into the practice of contemporary portraiture in the UK. Nowhere else is it possible to acquire the body of knowledge regarding portrait painting, and figurative painting in general” A recent commission, introduced by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, for Rossall School shows how his work has developed over the year.

This year’s winner Daniel Shadbolt, aged 28 will be pushing the aspects of scale as he will have the freedom and time to work on a larger scale. Currently he is using a technique where by he re-stretches the canvas he has been working on and pushes the boundaries to a larger scale.

Shadbolt will be invited to exhibit completed bursary work at the annual exhibition of Royal Society of Portrait Painters in May 2009.